A good age for a second trip (children)?

[beckstrous]

Hi there,

I have started dreaming about a third trip to WDW. I went once in my twenties, and for my 40th in 2016. That time, our daughter was just over 3.5. She had a blast, and turned out to be a thrill-seeker (completely unphased by Splash Mountain and 7DMT; would have gone on Thunder Mountain but it was closed - asked to go on the Hulk at Universal!).

We've since been to Disneyland Paris (2018), and our daughter is now 6. She is still a thrill-seeker and likes watching POV coaster videos on YouTube (as do I!). She doesn't remember much about our trip to Orlando - I showed her a POV of Splash Mountain and she didn't remember it, despite having ridden it several times when we went. We didn't expect her to remember it, of course, but it was the holiday of a lifetime for us all.

We are looking at getting annual passes for Disneyland Paris next summer. I initially thought I'd like to go to Florida in 2021, when our daughter will be 8, but then I realised that if we did get Disneyland Paris annual passes, it might make more sense to visit Paris again in 2021, and save for Florida in 2022.

But I am a bit torn. She will be 9.5 in summer 2022 - is this too old to enjoy the magic of Disney? (Probably a silly question, as I still enjoy it age 43). On the other hand, is 9 better than 8, given that we would also like to go to Universal? I'm not sure if she really would ride the Hulk at age 9.5 (she is already 126cm, though), but I know some of the Harry Potter screen rides are a bit scary and so perhaps 9.5 is better than 8.5? I would really appreciate the thoughts of folks who have done this with kids that age!

[RockTheDots]

I don't have kids myself, but I was 10 when my parents took me for the 1st time to WDW and Universal. I absolutely loved it. So I don't think 9.5 is too old to enjoy the magic of Disney. I spent years after dreaming about being able to return, finally made it back 20 years later for my honeymoon and converted my 1st-timer husband to a Disney-lover - we've been back 3 times since then and going again next year!

[Minniemagoo]

My kids will be 16, 13 and 11 when we visit next year and we are definitely doing Disney. When we went 2 years ago they especially loved AK, I think they also were able to enjoy the later hours better. We did MNSSHP and they had a ball.

They all loved Universal. DS was 9 (just!) and did everything, hulk, HP etc and had a ball. Having 2 older sisters who are HP fans probably helped with the HP experiences as I would say he is more into HP/Fantastic Beasts now than he was 2 years ago but he still enjoyed the rides.

[The Thornes]

We have taken our daughter many times and she always enjoys it as we all do.
But i'd have the say the best trip was the first at 3 1/2.

Followed be the trip when she was tall enough for all the rides.

[Procrastinator]

There is no bad age to go. But if you are only hoing once more it is a bit of a dilema.

Go earlier and she will get more of the magic of disney. Plus some reasonable coasters at 1.26m.

Or wait for her to get to 1.37m and go on the bigger coasters.

Only you can pick which will be best!

Or, my suggestion. Go when she is still younger, keep costs down, in part by just doing disney. Then a few years later go again, and again keep costs down, but that time do other parks and not disney.

[dpmcalister]

My son was 7 when we took him first time, 12 last time and will be 17 next time. The first time we did all the parks in Orlando. The second time was just Universal and Busch Gardens. This next time it'll just be Universal (but we're only going for a week this time). We're not massive Disney fans (although I'm a big Star Wars geek ) so Universal suits us best.

[Monty8639]

Your never too young or too old to enjoy Disney

[Lisbon]

As said I think there is never a bad age, my daughter is in her 20s and still insists on going to Disney, I think if they offered the bibbidi bobbidi boutique for her age she'd do it
Rob

[Picklepuppy]

My kids were 8 and nearly 4 when we went last year. They had a great time, although I think the 4 year old got more from it than the 8 year old! We are going back next year when my daughter will be nearly 10 and my son 5 and they are much more interested in the planning this time. We’ll probably go again when they are 12 and 8 but who knows lol

[beckstrous]

Thanks so much for all your helpful replies! Really good to hear other people's views as it's a big deal, knowing when to time it. Realistically I think if we do get DLP annual passes, it will probably be 2022 by the time we go back to Florida. What a nice thing to ponder, though!